Thursday, October 11, 2012

Thoughts on the Outdoor Naval Game...


Now that we've thawed out, I thought I would debrief a bit and share some thoughts on both the outdoor gaming experience and the Fletcher Pratt combat system.

As a reminder, three of us set us set out on a cold blustery fall day to play with toy ships in the park.  Details can be found at my earlier post,  and Sylvain's post over at Curt's blog.  For the record I should add that Sylvain used General Quarters for damage allocation, but allocated hits by the Fletcher Pratt ranging guessing method.

Pros

  1. Playing in real scale really felt nice.  Curt and I were hitting at 30 feet or 12,000 yards.  It really put things into perspective.
  2. We did really appreciate the need to maneuver your ships in a way to help your gunners.  I've seen some naval games where the maneuvers are so intricate, the ships' tracks look like modern art.  Try that with FP range guessing and your messing with yourself as much as (or more than) your messing with your opponent.
  3. The FP range guessing does reward skill (but not tactical skill - see below).
  4. The combat results did have a "morale" impact on players.  If you opponent is hammering you and you're not able to range in, it is very easy to get panicky and flustered.
  5. It got us out in the (very) fresh air, which my better half tells me is a good thing.
  6. It was fun and forced us to think differently (I found myself estimating ranges in "Sylvains" at one point).
  7. It amused the heck out of my family members!


Cons

  1. The range guessing is (literally) hit or miss, all or nothing.  More over, once you've ranged in it's reasonably easy to keep ranging on.  I know it is skill and judgement based, but it actually felt more like luck than anything else.
  2. I would rather blame the dice than blame my eyesight!  To paraphrase Homer Simpson "Weaseling out of responsibility is what separates us from the animals".  More scientifically, when you roll badly, you know that the odds favour you making it up sometime in the future with a good dice roll.  When you can't find the range, the odds are that you'll keep on missing.  
  3. It rewards physical skills over mental ability - and I speak as someone with excellent long range vision and depth perception.  I thought that I endured junior high school gym class so that I wouldn't need to be judged this way an adult!!
  4. It gives the wrong level of command.  I want to be a ship captain or an admiral, not a gunnery officer.  And I certainly shouldn't be acting as both.  I prefer game systems where you have mechanism to account for the actions of your subordinates and let you focus on command decisions at the appropriate level.  The technical term for these mechanisms is dice and combat tables!
I know that there are FP fans out there, but not me.  I enjoy it as a historical experience and a challenge but not as a gaming style. A I think I'd be happier using Fred Jane's striker's to shoot at ship plans.

10 comments:

  1. Sounds like it calls for training and practice in bracketing, which in turn sounds like work.

    Not to mention a team of players for the various roles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, too much work. Although it would mean I could kick my gunnery officer's butt!

      PD

      Delete
  2. Thanks, Peter, for sharing your thoughts. I must admit I still have positive feelings toward distance evaluation, but we'll resolve hits with dice next time. There is also another "novelty" I brought to the game, and that is the "damage report". You knew you were hit, and the effect on your speed, but you did not know how badly. Do you prefer to have full knowledge of the damage you receive and inflict?

    Cheers,

    Sylvain

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sylvain

      Partial knowledge would be great - you move slower, you lost a turret, you're on fire. You should know even less about the other ships in your squadron, and only really obvious stuff about the enemy.

      Cheers
      PD

      Delete
    2. All good comments to which I agree entirely. It was a fun diversion but if I had to play it again I would find it annoying. As you say the players are better situated at the Captain's or Squadron Commander's perspective, not the gunnery officer of each ship.

      I liked the 'initial damage reports' but the players should get more detailed information on the damage as time progresses. From my reading naval battles were run by highly skilled technicians and as such they were typically very good at assessing the health of their ships.

      Delete
    3. Curt

      Good point, but officers often get distracted by the big picture. I think of the moment at Jutland when Beatty was only alerted to the fact that his flagship took a critical hit when a badly burned marine officer appeared on HMS Lion's bridge to report "Q turret's gone sir"

      PD

      Delete
    4. Yes, that is why I say 'get more detailed information on the damage as time progresses.' I like the initial 'sketch' report but think more information should be forthcoming as the game progresses.

      Delete
  3. As one who has played (and run) a few FP games (albeit indoors), I'll throw in my thoughts.
    It's a game which requires and rewards quite strict umpiring, and the umpires are by far the busiest chaps in the game. I have found that even inexperienced players can easily handle a couple of smaller ships or one big 'un without it becoming hard work.
    Anyway, you'll be delighted (or perhaps just appalled) to now that I will be running an outdoor FP game at next years Conference Of Wargamers in July. Hopefully we'll get higher temperatures then you had....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TIm

      DId we inspire you? My wife by the way is delighted that I have (as she puts it) "achieved the impossible and out-weirded the Brits"!

      When and where is COW next year? I may well be in the UK, and if I can swing it and the planets align it would be great to attend.

      Cheers
      PD

      Delete
  4. Tim

    Sounds great. July in the UK might actually be warmer than Regina in October, but I've learned it's not always so. Will you be modelling tool belt and 100' tape measure like Sylvain?

    PD

    ReplyDelete